The Sweatshop of Love Blog

Turns out that my goal was to make 14 Twin Cities Headbands, but I’ve kinda always been both an overachiever and bad at math.

Twin Cities Headbands All in a Row!

I honestly can’t believe I made 16 of these damn things. I’ve had a lot of distractions – I had 2 finished before I went to Michigan a couple weeks ago, then I had 8 done on the 5th. I punched 8 more out last week and this weekend and added buttons and finished them up yesterday.

8 White Headbands

I used the Bernat Softee Baby Yarn leftover from  my Impress Dress for 8 of them, and pulled out a bunch of brightly colored fabric covered buttons to make them just that much more summery.

Knit Picks Comfy Sport Blackberry

I made 4 originals! Made with the yarn the pattern calls for – Knit Picks Comfy Sport in Blackberry, and I found some pretty yellow-floral fabric buttons to put on these.

City Tweed DK in Romance

AND I used up the leftover Knit Picks City Tweed DK in Romance from my Beatnik for 4 more headbands. Fabric covered buttons and tweed don’t really work, so I bought some wood buttons and I think they look awesome!

So that is another check mark on my very long Renegade Brooklyn to do list!

Pattern: Twin Cities Headband by me!

Yarn: Bernat Softee Baby Yarn in White, Knit Picks Comfy Sport in Blackberry, Knit Picks City Tweed DK in Romance

Needles: Size 4s

White Headbands Ravelry Project Page

Red Headbands Ravelry Project Page

Purple Headbands Ravelry Project Page

First Bow Headbands, now Twin Cities Headbands.

Unfinished Twin Cities Headbands

I want to have 16 of these finished and for sale at Renegade Brooklyn, so I’ve had one of these working on my needles for the past week. 8 down, 8 to go.

Ruffles and Seed Stitch

These babies are not so pretty before they are finished. I figure I’ll knit them all and then finish them all. So right now they don’t look like much.

I’m using Knit Picks Comfy Sport in Blackberry and… WAIT A DAMN MINUTE! Where does that link go?!

Twin Cities Headband on Knit Picks!

It goes to the Twin Cities Headband pattern on Knit Picks! That is right! This pattern, along with the Two Boyfriends Cardigan, are available on Knit Picks. Buy the pattern, buy the yarn – it’s like magic.

Awesome, right?!

So while I’m knitting a shit ton of these I know I’m not alone.

And Renegade Brooklyn announced their full line up of vendors for this June’s show! Check them out. I’m making time to shop this time, that is for sure.

So last Friday Caitlin of Sweater Toys! and I found out we had been accepted into Renegade Craft Fair Brooklyn! It’s June 11th and 12th and it’s going to be awesome.

Yarn in the Window

I hit the ground running because you know what is an awkward time for a knitter? June. No one is thinking about the holidays. Or gifting. Or knitting. Or being warmer.

BIG Flower Headband?

So I have to get creative.

Plans. And Hardware.

And then I have to get more creative.

Go big or go home, right?! I’m going big.

Ok y’all after this I promise I’ll stop using exclamation points in all of my blog titles.

I took yesterday to recover and clean up my house! It was a disaster, as you can imagine. Boxes everywhere and stuff piled in every corner. Sometimes the piles didn’t even make it to corners. And I was BEAT. Renegade is 12 hours on your feet talking to people! But I went to bed at 9:30, slept like a log for 10 hours, and now I’m back in the game!

So, Renegade recap! Well, on day 1 it rained.

Lookin' Good!

But still a ton of people came out, and by 2pm the rain cleared up and there were a million people there.

So here I’ve got each knit kit in a different basket with a sign describing what is in each kit and what you’ll need, and a list of color choices. I’ve got the finished products hanging from a close line above them.

Kits in Baskets!

I had the tags out, I tried to keep one of every color on the top, I was replenishing kits as they sold. I think it looked great!

Sunshiney Day Two!

Day two was the most beautiful day ever. It was warm and breezy and so many people came to Renegade that the fire marshal came and kicked people out because there were too many people! It was nuts.

Caitlin's Sweater Toys

I was sharing a booth with Caitlin who was selling these Sweater Toys that people were absolutely loving! I swear not a person walked by our booth without picking up one of her animals.

Renegade was a blast and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Between the two days I sold 35 kits! Mostly the new Hello Sailor Knot Necklaces and Twin Cities Ruffle Headbands. People were digging the bow headbands, too! I made 23 of them and I’ve only got 3 left. Holla!

And added Renegade bonus?

Dinner with Jeanna!

Renegade prompted Jeanna from Do What Now?, who wrote this hilarious guest post for me a few months ago, to get herself up to Chicago for the weekend! We had dinner and talked loudly about really inappropriate things. It was a great way to relax before Renegade the next day.

So until next year (hopefully!) Renegade. You were stressful and exhausting but well worth it and I had a great time.

And thanks to everyone that game out! Every time I saw a familiar face I ran up with a tight hug of death I was so excited! It was great to put faces to blogs and twitter friends and blog readers and to meet new knitters in the area.

So now what? It’s class schedule time! I’ve got the rest of the week to put my life together before knitting classes hit full swing on Monday. Holla!

I got back to Chicago Monday after being out of the city since July 30th, but did I have time to easy me way back into reality? HELLZ NO!

Making My Sign for Renegade!

I set a schedule for myself before I left and got the majority of my Renegade Craft Fair prep done then. I sewed a million project bags, did all my pattern printing, made a million fabric covered buttons, finished stuffing and prepping my new knit kits, and knit a million bow headbands. I wanted to leave as little as possible for this week.

So what’s left? I made my sign today with some muslin I dyed for project bags and some fabric markers.

Finished Knit Kit Inventory

Completely 100% finished knit kits. All of them with buttons and tags and everything each kit needs.

Knit Kits Include:

• 15 Madison Cowl Kits and 13 Hand Warmers Kits
• 14 Twin Cities Headband Kits and 14 Anklet Socks Kits
• 20 Hello Sailor Knot Necklace Kits and 20 Entrelac Clutch Kits

Box of Important Things!

Since I’ve never done a craft fair before it’s hard to know what I’m going to need. So I’m just grabbing everything I can think of.

Yes, that is a glue stick. Why do you ask?

I’ll be selling patterns, fabric covered buttons, Sweatshop pins, bow headbands, the knit kits of course, and an added bonus:

Handmade Baskets

My mom is an amazingly talented basket weaver and made me a ton of baskets to use to display my kits in. They will be for sale along with everything I’ve got going and will add some serious style to my booth. They are stunning and I can’t wait for you guys to see them.

This afternoon I’ll be making copies of some of my patterns and stuffing them in plastic sleeves while catching up on some terrible reality TV (READ: Bachelor Pad) I’ve missed over the past few weeks, and then I might just be completely prepared for Renegade.

If you are planning on coming this weekend be sure you are on my mailing list to get a special coupon. Email me at allyson [at] thesweatshopoflove [dot] com to get one. And I’ll be raffling off a pattern so be sure to swing by Booth 11 to enter!

I’ll give you a full Renegade Craft Fair report on Monday! Wish me luck and I hope to see you this weekend!